These MIT MBAs Are Launching A VC Fund - Poets&Quants

Infinite Road co-founders Jaida Yang (left) and Preeti Sampat. Courtesy photo

Launching a venture capital fund is daunting. Launching one as a woman? Even tougher. According to All Raise data, only 9% — about 170 — VCs in the U.S. are women, with a check-writing fund of about $25 million. Nearly a quarter (74%) of U.S. venture capital firms, meanwhile, don’t have any partners that are women. This leads to a dearth in funding going to women founders: Only 15% of U.S. funding currently goes to companies with at least one woman founder.

Two MBAs from MIT’s Sloan School of Management are trying to change all that. Jaida Yang and Preeti Sampat stepped on campus in Boston in the fall of 2016. And when they graduate this week, they’ll be setting off on the continued launch and growth of their venture capital fund, Infinite Road.

The plan isn’t as simple as launching a typical venture capital fund. Yang, 27, and Sampat, 30, want to launch a fund that knows no boundaries based on geography, industry, or even educational level. They’re searching for the best teams of co-founders, with an emphasis on diversity and the MIT campus, where they have spent the past two years working with early-stage student ventures.

Another potential roadblock? The typical VC attempting to raise a fund from partners has at least worked at a VC firm for a few years. They’ve also typically raised at least an angel fund before and have a track record of making savvy investment decisions. Yet neither Sampat nor Yang have extensive knowledge or background in VC. Sampat is a computer scientist by trade, and while Yang has worked in finance since earning her degree from Cornell in 2013, she only has fragmented experience in the venture capital world.

MEETING IN MIT SLOAN’S PACIFIC COHORT

After three years at JPMorgan in the derivatives department, Yang began her first stint in VC, taking a position at Marathon Venture Partners in Beijing, where she focused on early-stage healthcare and fintech companies. She enjoyed the work so much, she decided to get her MBA from Sloan and transition into the VC world. During the summer between her first and second year, Yang worked at Solvay Ventures in Boston and IDG Capital in Beijing.

Unlike Yang, Sampat started in consulting after earning her computer science degree in India. Sampat spent about a year at KPMG and Ernst & Young, before taking a position at Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce marketplace. Wanting to gain more of a business background, Sampat decided to earn her MBA from Sloan. Her first brush with the venture capital world happened as an intern at Bessemer Venture Partners, also between her first and second years at MIT.

The duo met quickly after arriving at MIT as they were both in the Pacific Cohort at Sloan. But it wasn’t until last November, when the idea of Infinite Road popped up. The two were catching up over dinner, reflecting on their recent summers in venture capital and their overall experience at MIT. “We quickly focused on looking for something in the world we can add value to,” Sampat says on a phone call.

‘WHY DON’T WE JUST CREATE AN INSTITUTIONAL FUND’

Both Yang and Sampat were also involved in the fintech club on campus and advising MIT startups.

“We both have been working with many startups over the past two years and have been tracking the startups process from the beginning to today,” Yang says. That’s given the two some boosted exposure to early-stage startups and knowledge of those fledgling ventures. “We understand who those founders are, why they are working on the startup, how are they are working together, and what they are thinking about in terms of further expanding,” Yang says. “So we thought, why don’t we just create an institutional fund to help those companies grow further.”

Specifically, Sampat and Yang say they are looking for companies looking to expand internationally — a very logical and smart strategy considering the combined experience in the Chinese and Indian markets. Specifically, they say, Infinite Road will be looking at making investments in companies with products and services that are “not too broad, but not too niche,” and that have a “very clear go-to market strategy” and some early proven traction.

But more importantly?

“We have put a lot of emphasis on founders and the team composition,” Sampat says.

Specifically, not having any prior geographic, demographic, or educational expectations of the founders — an ethos that’s reflected in the name, Infinite Road. The “Infinite” comes from the Infinite Corridor at MIT and the “Road” stemming from the Silk Road, the early trade routes which connected different parts of the world.

THE ‘CHICKEN-AND-EGG’ CONUNDRUM

As Yang and Sampat prepare to graduate this week, the two have already made two investments in a couple undisclosed startups based in New York, proving they are already working through what Sampat calls the “chicken-and-egg” problem of launching a venture capital fund. “A first-time fund manager is going to have questions around how well are you going to be able to evaluate,” Sampat explains. But without the money, there is no way of proving they actually can make investments, she continues, noting partners at established VC firms or successful founders don’t usually have those questions surrounding them.

Nevertheless, the two plan to make 20 to 25 investments at a rate of less than a million in mainly e-commerce and fintech startups at the pre-seed and seed-stage levels. Another differentiator of their fund, Yang says, is instead of focusing on building a product or service like the typical startup, they’re building something more. “One thing that is very unique about the fund is we’re not trying to build a product or service, we’re building a community,” she says.

Moving forward, the two are quick to thank the MIT community they are leaving. “Our professors have been very kind to make intros and offer feedback,” Sampat says.

“It is really incredible how willing people are to helping us,” Yang agrees.

“This happened by a chance and since that day, we haven’t looked back,” Sampat says. “Every day is a surprise for us.”

Yang concurs.

“Very good surprises,” she says.

DON’T MISS: AT TEPPER, WOMEN FIND TECH MORE APPEALING and AT HAAS, WOMEN IN VC TALK EQUALITY & OPPORTUNITY

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Research MBA Programs :: RE: Admissions- suggestions- gmat - Research MBA Programs

Author: Donna@Stratus
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 6:15 am (GMT -8)

alokbhatt93 wrote:

I am an engineer (B.E. Mech). Just appeared for Gmat and was able to score 700 (V35/Q49). Any suggestions as to what collges i should look for MBA?

There's not enough information here to really be able to tell you! Not sure what demographic you are from-- and that 700 could mean different things depending on the answer to this question. However, a 700 is a very respectable score for any school-- so there is not any school that you would not be in the range of possibility. I suggest you sign up for this free webinar-- write your way to a top MBA--- as it is more than just the GMAT that matters and you will get some good insights about the application process from this webinar: https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/7884019930408879105 It is June 7 10 am EST.
_________________
Donna Bauman
Kellogg MBA

stratusadmissionscounseling.com
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Schedule a free consult today!

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My elevator pitch: What are we working on at Olin? - Olin BlogOlin Blog

What kind of business school would we be if I weren’t prepared with an elevator pitch for the moments when an alumnus, student, colleague, parent or donor wants to know what we're all about here at Olin?

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Debating Climate Change, The B-School Way - Poets&Quants

ESADE is the only Spanish B-school that offers the CEMS Global Alliance’s Master in International Management. ESADE photo

The “American” delegate is on his feet, insisting that despite pulling out of the Paris Agreement, his country is still committed to finding solutions to climate change — as long as they “benefit all parties.” The “Vietnamese” delegate follows this with a heartfelt plea that rich countries not forget vulnerable, developing nations. Then comes a representative of Friends of the Earth, insisting that everybody remember how urgently we need to find solutions. “The time for theoretical debates is over; we need action!” he declares, a finger in the air. 

Just the kind of thing that you might expect to hear in the halls of the UN — except that these speeches are being made not in New York but in a debating chamber belonging to Barcelona’s ESADE business school. And the delegates are not hard-nosed diplomats but fresh-faced participants of the CEMS Master in International Management program, taking part in a simulation of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The students clearly take it seriously. The women representing Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries are wearing headscarves. While there are some signs that this is a game — the World Wildlife Fund delegates wear polar bear and panda onesies — the informed discussions over deficit reduction targets and the rights and responsibilities of rich versus developing countries are quite believable. Anyone who tells you that business schools are full of people aiming only to enrich themselves should see these young people engaging seriously about the nuts and bolts of climate change policy. 

ONLY HIGH-ACHIEVERS NEED APPLY

Stefano Pogutz of SDA Bocconi. 1ocean.org

CEMS, once known as the Community of European Management Schools and International Companies but now named the Global Alliance in Management Education, began 30 years ago as a collaboration between five business schools and several corporate partners with the aim of “promoting global citizenship,” with an emphasis on “the pursuit of excellence with high standards of performance and ethical conduct,” “understanding and drawing upon cultural diversity with respect and empathy,” and “professional responsibility and accountability in relation to society as a whole.” Last year, 1,279 students of 72 nationalities took part in the CEMS MIM in 31 business schools, with a 50-50 male-female ratio in the most recent cohort. These students are high-fliers; only those with high academic achievement and fluency in three languages need apply. Currently no U.S. school takes part, but there are whispers that one might join soon. 

Arguably the jewel in the crown of the CEMS program is the UNFCCC simulation, which is now 10 years old. “We decided to train students on how to reach consensus in a specific topic related to responsibility, and chose climate change,” says Eugenia Bieto, director general of ESADE, one of CEMS’ founding schools. “The program has been very popular among the students. They feel as if they were doing the real negotiation, they become so involved in all the process tht at the end of the program they realize how important these things are, not only for the world but also for them as future managers.” A decade ago, the simulation involved just 17 students from one school, but this year there were over 150, from nine European schools.  

“The negotiation is a simulation, but it is one of the most credible ones I’ve seen,” says Stefano Pogutz of SDA Bocconi School of Management, who is chair of the CEMS Faculty Group. “There is a level of emotional engagement that it much higher than usual.” He is right. In the bar the night before the negotiation began, students representing countries with common cause could be seen forging strategic alliances over red wine. While I was interviewing one student, the delegate from Cambodia hurried over and they engaged in an urgent, whispered conversation, before Mr. Cambodia hurried off again.

CLIMATE CHANGE: DEFINITELY A BUSINESS PROBLEM, STUDENTS SAY

Watching the students passionately — and competently — haggle over renewable energy targets, it’s hard not to be impressed by their grasp of complex issues. But is climate change something that business schools should be interested in? Shouldn’t they stick to teaching students about supply chain management and microeconomics? Aren’t these issues for governments, rather than businesses? 

There is no doubt in students’ minds. “In the short term, it might be possible to profit if you don’t care about these issues, but our generation looks to the long-term and for us there is no alternative to being sustainable. If we are not, there will be no business at all,” says Alwin Schmid, from St. Galen University, over coffee and sandwiches grabbed between sessions. His friend, Andrin Monstein, adds: “Policymakers and business have to work together. Businesses are pushing policymakers to create a framework which ensures they won’t be in a worse situation than their competitors if they do the right thing.” 

What do students who participate in the CEMS UNFCCC learn? Firstly, there is a deep-dive into the facts and figures around climate change. While many have taken courses on the subject before, with CEMS they see it from unfamiliar perspectives, learning about the history, economy, and aims of countries they might not have considered before. It seems that this is a real eye-opener. Bartlomej Bojski of SGH Warsaw School of Economics found representing Vietnam “insightful, but tough. When we are studying in the Western culture about different countries and especially about less-developed countries, we think about them from our rich perspective, but doing this you mentally become not just the representative but a citizen of the country, and you really start to understand positions they take in negotiations.” Fellow SGH student Lizaveta Myshko said that even representing Sweden had its challenges. “It leads global policy change, but it is hard to make others feel the same and comply and take the initiative. It was surprising that other countries could be stubborn on things like definitions,” she said.  

THE VALUE OF DIVERSE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Johanna Bocklet, University of Cologne

Intriguingly, one of the main angles that interests many of the students is the way businesses and government can collaborate to solve climate change. “I am interested in getting into the field of social business and social enterprise, and the course addresses policy, which is something I believe business schools haven’t addressed at all,” says Kristina Medow, from the Technical University of Berlin. “Being able to understand and navigate the policy side of things can help student and future entrepreneurs better establish their businesses. Having a global perspective on policy can help you make better informed decisions about the sorts of businesses you might want to establish.” Bocconi’s Pogutz adds that the top-down governmental approach isn’t working, and a bottom-up one might be more effective, with businesses pushing for change.

The range of international perspectives mean that students become aware that problems have to be addressed differently in different places. “In some countries it is best to incentivize people with price,” says Norwegian student Inge Kristina Godo. “But in Norway, it might be better to put stickers on products to tell consumers which are the least polluting, because we are driven by self-image.” As well as learning facts, the FCCC involves honing negotiating skills. Students said that they had learned about the importance of building trust with partners, of choosing words very carefully, and how important it is to offer something valuable to a partner, and not look out only for yourself. The simulation also embeds the values of respect, openness and internationalism that are core to the CEMS project. 

Unlike some business school modules, the climate change course clearly affected the students. At their request, all the food on offer during the three days of the simulation was vegetarian, an acknowledgement that the meat industry damages the environment. All the students I spoke to had reduced their meat consumption, and some agonized about the difficulties of becoming vegan. Many came to Barcelona by train, and two who had to fly told me they had offset the carbon those flights produced. Students are also pushing CEMS to partner with smaller NGOs as well as the corporates who support the course, and its current “social partners”. Students power has also accelerated ESADE’s drive to reduce its use of plastic, and it is quickly phasing out plastic bottles in its cafes and restaurants.

Obviously, this course is self-selecting, and only those with a pre-existing passion for the issues around climate change apply. Even so, the simulation can have a serious effect on them. “Some of them are devastated about climate change by the end,” says Johanna Bocklet, coordinator of the CEMS climate change course at the University of Cologne. “They start optimistic, they have hopes and dreams and can’t understand why it is so hard to save the planet, but then they see that it is not so simple.” The million-dollar question is, even if their passion can survive the inevitable compromises and failures of the mock negotiation, will they vanish once these bright young people start to work for corporations, earning good money where pushing the sustainability agenda might rock the boat? “I don’t know, that takes a strong personality,” says Bocklet. “Can an event like this make a difference? I think it teaches them that it is worth fighting for. You see how motivated they are right now. It’s worth a try.” 

DON’T MISS THESE MBAs WANT TO GIVE REFUGEES ELECTRICITY and ESADE’S MASTER OF BUSINESS ANALYTICS

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Nik Kumar: Columbia’s Crime-Fighting MBA - Poets&Quants

Nik Kumar spent nearly a decade as a part-time auxiliary police officer for the New York Police Department before enrolling in Columbia Business School’s full-time MBA program. Courtesy photo

Nik Kumar’s LinkedIn profile looks like the typical MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Cornell for undergrad. A stint at Bank of America Merrill Lynch right out of college. Then a couple stops at New York City-based private equity firms Sound Harbor Partners and AEA Investors. Normal, that is, till you scroll to the volunteer experience section where Kumar lists a decade’s worth of volunteering as an auxiliary police officer for the New York Police Department.

“I’ve never met a finance guy who also part-times as a cop,” Kumar, a Dallas native, says.

Neither have his finance colleagues, who call Kumar the Banker Cop, for his Batman-esque persona.

“They all knew I did this on the side,” Kumar says, noting he often would rush from the office on Thursday and Friday nights to the 10th Precinct in Chelsea, where he served.

ENTERING WALL STREET … AND THE POLICE ACADEMY

Sometime during his time at Cornell, Kumar developed two passions. The first was finance and what he calls a “normal career.” The second was public safety. So when Kumar graduated and took his first professional position as an analyst at Bank of America in New York, he also entered a 16-week volunteer police academy. “NYPD is the most prominent law agency in New York,” Kumar points out, also noting his interest in counter-terrorism and New York’s history with terrorist activity. “The number one goal is to protect New Yorkers and protect the city,” Kumar continues. “And to get a behind the scenes look at how that is done is something I wanted to see.”

Kumar learned how to work the police radios, how to make arrests, how to spot suspicious situations and people, how to interact with people, and what to do if a terrorist attack did occur.

“We weren’t on the first line of defense, but the whole concept was, when you’re out on the street, you’re wearing the same uniform and people are going to be able to tell the difference between you and full-time police,” Kumar says. “So during an emergency they are going to come to you and you have to know how to react.”

After his 16-week training, Kumar was assigned to a full-time cop, where he did ride-alongs and learned from some practical, field experience. Eventually, Kumar was assigned an area and would make regular patrols while also volunteering at major events like when foreign leaders visited or parades and city festivities. Auxiliary police officers are required to complete a minimum of 12 volunteer hours a week, which might not be much for most volunteers, but for an investment banker and then private equity expert, was a lot. “I wasn’t able to commit to long shifts,” Kumar says, adding he often worked 80 to 90 hours a week, and occasionally the 100 hour week.

Kumar on patrol. Courtesy photo

FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP VISITS TO NEW YEARS EVE DETAILS

But, Kumar says, the time completing security details and patrolling the streets was welcomed.

“It was just so different than sitting in an office in front of a computer banging out Excel sheets for 100 hours a week,” he says. “It was almost refreshing in a way.”

He also enjoyed the unpredictability of the job. On some shifts, Kumar says, nothing happened. “I’d be giving tourists directions for eight hours,” he says. But for others, there were major car accidents, fights, burglaries, and emotionally disturbed people.

“With the police work, you just didn’t know what you were getting yourself into,” he says. “You could never predict what was going to happen on your shift.”

Kumar also spent time on details for the Thanksgiving Day parade, the New York Marathon, when the Pope visited in 2008, and one of President Donald Trump’s recent visits. For four years, he worked the New Years Eve ball drop in Times Square. Early in the evening one year, a person pushed others in the crowd forward, creating a wave of falling people towards the crowd control barricades. Those in the front were being crushed, many of them children. Kumar and the officers rushed to pull people away from the barricades. Luckily, no one was hurt, and the instigator was later found by police officers.

BLENDING PRIVATE CAPITAL AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Kumar’s interest in private capital and public safety are not mutually exclusive. While at AEA Investors, Kumar was able to offer some invaluable insights for a deal with a software company that helps with emergency dispatch. “I was able to bring in my experience during the due diligence,” Kumar says, adding it helped AEA get an edge on the investment. Kumar also serves as a senior advisor for Responder Ventures, which focuses specifically on tech companies focused on products to improve the public safety sector.

“Public safety is an area that has been so poorly understood by institutional capital and professional investors because most people don’t have a background in it and don’t understand it,” Kumar says. “But it’s an area that is going to be growing.”

The interest in the unleashing private capital into the public safety sector was a major component of his application to Columbia Business School, Kumar notes. “It was a major component of my story, because it became a big part of my identity,” he adds.

Kumar’s long-term goals align with that mission. “Primarily, I want to focus on bringing institutional capital to the center and investing in these technologies, invest in the people, and invest in innovations that are really going to bolster the sector and increase national security and counter-terrorism efforts,” he says.

‘THE FRONT SEAT TO THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH’

For now, Kumar has hung up the bullet-proof armor and police uniform to get the full B-school experience.

“Even on weekends, I don’t want to be patrolling. I want to be with my classmates,” he says, adding he is still undecided if he will return to the NYPD after graduation.

Either way, Kumar says, he gained experience and insights into two very different sides of New York — from the very white collar life of private equity to working the streets alongside other police officers that didn’t all have college educations. And it’s not an experience Kumar says he would trade.

“They call it the front seat to the greatest show on earth, and it’s cliché, but it is true.”

DON’T MISS: MEET COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2019 or AFTER EARNING AN MBA, SHE TRASHES THE SCHOOL

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ATMA 2018 Result (May Exam) Declared; Get ATMA 2018 Scorecard at atmaaims.com - Jagran Josh

The ATMA 2018 Results for the AIMS Test for Management Admissions was announced on 2^nd June 2018. The ATMA Result for the May Exam was announced online by the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) online and MBA aspirant can visit official website www.atmaaims.com to download their ATMA 2018 Scorecard online.

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B-School Bulletin: Why Marketing Analytics Hasn’t Lived Up To Its Promise - Poets&Quants

News from Harvard Business School

“We see a paradox in two important analytics trends. The most recent results from The CMO Survey conducted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and sponsored by Deloitte LLP and the American Marketing Association reports that the percentage of marketing budgets companies plan to allocate to analytics over the next three years will increase from 5.8% to 17.3%—a whopping 198% increase. These increases are expected despite the fact that top marketers report that the effect of analytics on company-wide performance remains modest, with an average performance score of 4.1 on a seven-point scale, where 1=not at all effective and 7=highly effective. More importantly, this performance impact has shown little increase over the last five years, when it was rated 3.8 on the same scale.

“How can it be that firms have not seen any increase in how analytics contribute to company performance, but are nonetheless planning to increase spending so dramatically? Based on our work with member companies at the Marketing Science Institute, two competing forces explain this discrepancy—the data used in analytics and the analyst talent producing it. We discuss how each force has inhibited organizations from realizing the full potential of marketing analytics and offer specific prescriptions to better align analytics outcomes with increased spending.”

Read more …

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Can New Strategies Keep Campbell Soup From Going Cold?

News from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

“The sudden exit two weeks ago of Campbell Soup Company’s CEO Denise Morrison brings the firm the opportunity to review and reset its strategies. Essentially, it means revisiting its portfolio of products and market positions, weighing acquisitions and dispositions of existing assets, and potentially even putting itself up for sale. ‘Everything is on the table. There are no sacred cows,’ interim CEO Keith McLoughlin told analysts after its third-quarter earnings announcement, which was on the same day Morrison quit.

“Campbell Soup still has a lot going for it, and with the right strategies and execution, it could bounce back to good health, according to experts at Wharton and the University of Michigan.

“As it happens, Campbell Soup is America’s 10^th most-loved brand and fifth in the foods category, according to the 2018 Morning Consult rankings. ‘There are still plenty of consumers who care about it and love it,’ said Wharton marketing lecturer Jason Riis.”

Read more …

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9 Reasons To Look Forward To Your HBS Commencement

News from HBS

“On May 24, the Class of 2018 took their last steps as MBA students and crossed over the Commencement stage into the role of an HBS alum. This moment has been a dream for each student since they first walked through the doors of the MBA Admissions office, and for many, years before that. For the Admissions team, Commencement can be bittersweet. We remember your applications and interviews. We watched you inspire your classmates and grow into the amazing leaders that you have become; but frankly, we hate to see you go. But above all, we wish you the best in each of your new endeavors; from social enterprise to venture capitalism, from consulting to entrepreneurship. We can’t wait to see the impact you will make on the world.

“For those of you just beginning your path to the Commencement stage (whether you are starting your first year at HBS this coming Fall or have just started thinking about taking your GRE or GMAT), here are the 9 best moments to look forward to at your HBS MBA Commencement.”

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Tuck Student’s App ‘Nudg’ Helps Manage Personal Relationships

News from Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

“Many of us have forgotten to call, text or otherwise contact those we are close to. Angela Orzell Tu’19 is working to design an application to solve this problem — Nudg, a personal relationship manager.

“According to Orzell, Nudg manages contacts and reminds users to reach out to those with whom they may be forgetting to keep in touch. A prototype of the app will be presented at Technigala, a science-fair style presentation for the computer science department and Digital Art Leadership and Innovation students, in Baker-Berry Library on Wednesday evening.”

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Family Business Longevity Requires Owners To Step Back

News from INSEAD

“Professionalizing a family firm is a necessary yet difficult progression. The owner-manager starts with a solo performance but the firm builds into a symphony orchestra in which the family continues to have a say in the running of the firm. Family-run businesses need to shift their deeply engrained organisational culture from a single-family member leader to a professional manager leading the firm. It can be a difficult process to get right because of the larger emotional issues at stake. For professional managers who have little or no experience with family firms, most will have never confronted this kind of transformation before since it is unique to family firms. In general, both owner-managers and professionals often underestimate the length of time and the scope the process can take.

“One study has shown that large publicly-traded family firms in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have lost half their market value in the five years following the retirement of a family owner-manager. Most of these firms had been too dependent on the family leaders. Hence, embarking on the professionalisation process is crucial for the survival and prosperity of the family firm. In guiding the firm through this process, owner-managers will create added value while reducing key personal risks, such as sudden health problems or accidental loss of life.”

Read more …

MBA candidates settle into their seats prior to the start of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Recognition Ceremony, May 26 in Newman Arena. Lindsay France photo

MBA Grads Urged To Harness Power To Do Good

News from Cornell University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management

“Amanda Archila, MBA ’18, was making a difference as Washington, D.C.-based national account manager for Divine Chocolate, a fair-trade, farmer-owned company headquartered in Ghana and London.

“But in order to make a bigger difference, to secure real power for the purpose of the greater good, Archila knew she needed to take another step.

“Her story of sacrifice and perseverance is undoubtedly similar to the scores of others who were honored May 26 at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Recognition Ceremony, held in Newman Arena.”

Read more …

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Natsume Ono photo

New Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens Across From Ross School

News from University of Michigan Ross School of Business

“Amid a new Michigan licensing act and an updated Ann Arbor ordinance, a new marijuana dispensary has opened near the University of Michigan’s campus. Green Planet dispenses medical marijuana to registered patients and is located at 700 Tappan Ave., across from the Ross School of Business and the Law Quadrangle.

“Green Planet is one of many new dispensaries opening in the Ann Arbor area after the legal changes put into effect earlier this year.

“According to its website, the dispensary is part of a non-profit group aiming to assist medical marijuana patients and share information about marijuana’s medical benefits.”

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Why Firms Should Conduct Randomized Controlled Trials

News from INSEAD

“Making mistakes and learning from them is par for the course for companies. But years of bad decisions could lead to the downfall of conglomerates.

“In the case of General Electric, a major engine of America’s economy for more than a century, the firm shook investor confidence when it announced last year that it would have to slash its stock dividend in half – only the second time it had to cut its dividend since the Great Depression.

“By the end of last year, General Electric shed more than $100 billion in market value since November 2016, undone by a long history of overpriced acquisitions, opaque accounting and its overly complex business model.”

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Building Your Own Network When You’re Part Of A Family Business

News from HBS

“Ashley Fina’s grandfather was a natural networker. As the founder of his own New York retail store, Michael C. Fina relied on his network to build his company into a beloved Manhattan institution, which counted Frank Sinatra among its customers. But when Ashley first entered the family business, she realized that while her grandfather had a robust network, his sons, including Ashley’s father, who eventually took over the business, did not.

“’They were so focused on maintaining and building what their father and mother had built, they didn’t turn their attention to building their own network. It was really my father’s biggest regret,’ Ashley recalls now. Her grandparents’ vast array of friends and advisors — and reliable customers — didn’t simply pass from one generation to the next.”

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Juan Carlos Vargas, the managing principal at GeoAdaptive LLC speaks at the tourism roundtable, as Vincent Molés, from the Harvard Extension School, front, Kathleen Ahamed-Broadhurst, research manager from for the Cornell Sustainable Tourism Entrepreneurship; and Jacqueline Kariithi, a postdoctoral research fellow from Princeton listen. Dave Burbank photo

Executives Explore Sustainable Tourism At Pillsbury Forum

News from Cornell Johnson School

“More than two dozen senior-level business executives and educators from around the world discussed emerging directions in sustainable tourism at a roundtable hosted by Cornell’s Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship and the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise on May 3 at Statler Hall.

“The roundtable sought to develop new ways to evaluate, manage and maintain destination assets around the world. Neil Tarallo, the director of the Pillsbury Institute, welcomed the participants, while co-organizers Jeanne Varney ’85 and Mark Milstein, clinical professor of management, and the director for the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, gave opening remarks.”

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DON’T MISS LAST WEEK’S NEWS- AND DATA-FILLED BULLETIN

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